President

Welcome to Catawba College!If you are learning about Catawba for the first time, I hope you will quickly discover what makes this beautiful, engaging, and student-centered place so special. If you are someone with a long-standing connection to our learning community, you already know that Catawba is a life-changing and lifelong experience.

How does Catawba do this? It all starts with — and flows from — our Mission Statement:

Catawba College is committed to providing students an education rich in personal attention that blends the knowledge and competencies of liberal studies with career preparation.

Catawba College draws strength from Judeo-Christian values, sustains a dynamic community of learners and seeks to unite a diverse population of students, faculty and staff as active co-participants in scholarship and service. Catawba College prepares students to reach their highest potential while becoming responsible citizens with a zeal to enrich human life.

Let's take a moment to examine just some of those key elements:

"An education rich in personal attention" — This means that the faculty and staff here are devoted to the development of the individual. They are truly engaged in learning and enabling a passion for learning.

"Blends the knowledge and competencies of liberal studies with career preparation" — As Louis Pasteur once observed, "Fortune favors the prepared mind." We believe deeply in the interconnected values of liberal arts and professional programs that will prepare our students to think critically, communicate effectively, and adapt rapidly. Our students will be ready for the global challenges they will address not only in their first job or career but in the many others that will follow.

"Catawba College prepares students to reach their highest potential" — There are many fine institutions of higher learning in the United States today but I know of no other that sets this out as part of its mission. It is at the core of who we are and what we do. And we are confident in making this part of our mission because we can point to generations of alumni who stand up and say, "Catawba prepared me — Catawba enabled me — to be the person I am today." They are leaders in their communities and innovators in their fields of endeavor. They are people of exceptional character who make a difference.

In summary, Catawba defines itself through four simple but powerful words that infuse all that we do in providing the fullest, finest college experience possible:

Scholarship.

Character.

Culture.

Service.

On behalf of the College community, we welcome you and we look forward to your next opportunity to expand and enrich your involvement with Catawba.